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This is a work of fiction. Characters, names, places, events or incidents are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to places or incidents is purely coincidental

978-0-9942585-0-2

Prologue

She walked naked through barren land, a vast ocean disconnecting her from a place she once called home. Her feet knew now how rock felt to Man, her skin had met the burn of the sun, and as she stood atop the cliffs at the edge of her new world, the wind lifted her hair for the first time, dragging it behind her like a past she wished to forget. Her breasts felt cold, not cool, and her mouth felt dry, although she had no word for this. Tiny bumps covered her skin, and her fingers felt stiff around the treasure she’d stolen as she left.

As far as the eye could see, the shadows of Death and Nothingness had owned these lands for too long, drinking Life’s essence from within the veins of the earth God created. But in her hand she held the hope of everything.

In her hand she held Life.

In her hand she held the future for all that He called Man.

But Man did not dwell here as before. He did not dwell here. No one was here. No one but her and the hope she held in the tight curl of her fist.

She chose a place beneath the sun, of the sea and of the land, and dug a tiny impression in the earth, laying the seed there and covering it carefully. For forty days and forty nights she nourished the dry sand with her tears, and as the sun rose on the forty-first day she stood back as a singular leaf broke the surface and met the light.

Rain came down as the Tree rose upward, twigs twisting and snaking outward into branches, the ends flourishing with leaves of such intense green that the land around it began to change in colour. Lilith felt the roots connect with the earth, turning the sand to soil, thick and rich with nourishing elements. And as the roots reached down into a world beyond this and drank from the Rivers of Life, the hardened land shook and a great crack split the surface. Rushing water flooded the channel, following its path through a growing valley of green miles from where she stood.

When the water finally settled and the rain slowed, when the earth finally stood still, the morning sun shone down on a crystal clear lake, and Lilith looked upon her creation, praising the miracle of Nature.

She cried a tear for the joy and one for the hope, but the smallest blossom of fear unfurled in her heart for the beginning of new things. Beginning of new worlds. The end of her encasement. This tree, as it warmed its leaves in the sun, knew nothing of what it represented